Warren springs regional upset

They weren't pinching themselves.

No jaws needed to be picked up off the ground.

And nobody was doing a double-take of the scoreboard.

The fact that No. 12 Warren had just 10-runned fifth-seeded and perennial power Carmel on Carmel's own field left no one from Warren star struck.

The Blue Devils say they knew all along that they had it in them.

"We smashed Libertyville last week. We smashed Loyola. We came in with a lot of confidence," Warren pitcher Sean Kennedy said. "I think we knew we had a very good shot of beating Carmel."

With an 11-1 victory over Carmel in six innings Friday, Warren (20-11) will now face fourth-seeded Libertyville in Saturday's regional championship game at Carmel (11 a.m.). The winner will advance to next week's Barrington sectional, facing the winner of the Highland Park regional on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Carmel, which rarely loses in the first round and from coach Chuck Gandolfi's recollection has never been 10-runned in the state tournament, closes out the season at 24-12.

Last year, the Corsairs beat Warren for a regional championship, won a sectional title and then played in the supersectional at Alexian Field.

"Carmel is always going to be well-prepared, well-coached," said Warren coach Clint Smothers, whose team has won five games in a row. "But we've just been battling and battling and we've believed.

"I told the guys, 'We haven't been really hot all year until now. This is the best time to do that.'"

And speaking of peaking in the tournament, Kennedy has done that two years in a row now. Just ask Carmel.

Last year in Warren's regional final loss to the Corsairs, he went 2-for-3 with 2 home runs.

This year, he was even more lethal, which perhaps was the difference in the outcome.

Kennedy went 3-for-4 on the day, again with 2 home runs. Only this time, he also controlled the game from the mound.

He pitched five full innings. And besides a shaky first inning in which he gave up 4 hits and Carmel's only run, he was relentless.

For the rest of his time on the mound, Carmel got only 3 hits and advanced past first base just once. He also didn't issue any walks.

"He proved why he's our ace," Warren shortstop Ryan Economos said of Kennedy, who now has 7 home runs on the season. "He got in a few jams (in the first inning), but he does what he does and he can get out of them. He did a great job.

"It's a lot of hitting in front of him, too. We make a dangerous duo. You can't pitch around me because you get Sean."

Economos, Warren's No. 2 hitter, set the table perfectly for Kennedy, the No. 3 hitter. Kennedy drove in Economos twice against Carmel - once on a double that was part of a 6-run fifth inning for Warren and once on 2-run homer in the sixth inning that put the final nails in Carmel's coffin.

Economos was 2-for-3 with a home run and a double.

"That was hard (to watch)," said Carmel third baseman Paul Poirier, who started the season as the team's No. 2 pitcher but hadn't pitched in three weeks because of a shoulder injury. Carmel also lost ace Jeff Moree to a shoulder injury in April.

"It's hard to believe how fast (the game got out of reach). The first game-and we're done. We just didn't click. We had a rough day at the plate and in the field."

The Corsairs got a 3-for-3 performance out of leadoff batter Derek Jordan, but no one else had multiple hits. On top of that they also made 2 costly fielding errors that led to runs in that disastrous fifth inning.

Grayslake Central 4, Wauconda 2: At Wauconda, the Rams set up an all-Grayslake regional final, as seniors Aaron Snyder and Kevin O'Rourke led the way.

The Southern Illinois-bound Snyder struck out 13 without allowing a walk en route to winning his ninth game.

O'Rourke went 3-for-3 with a double, triple, 2 stolen bases and 2 runs scored.

"Aaron and Kevin really put us on their backs today," Rams assistant coach Ryan Feeney said. "We needed someone to lead the way today and our seniors answered the call."

Kurt Schmidt added 2 hits, including a key RBI double. Chris Brown, Kevin DeRue and Jackson White had hits as well.

Grayslake Central (21-15) will face Grayslake North in the Class 3A regional final at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.